


The Castaway

by SnapeLove



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M, Prompt Fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-24
Updated: 2020-09-24
Packaged: 2021-03-07 22:07:01
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,240
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26634829
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SnapeLove/pseuds/SnapeLove
Summary: He opened his eyes and then immediately slammed them shut against the dazzling brightness of the sun as he rolled onto his side retching and spitting up seawater and sand upon an unfamiliar shore.
Relationships: Hermione Granger & Severus Snape
Comments: 25
Kudos: 38





	The Castaway

**Author's Note:**

> This is one-shot, written for Prompt Week held by FB Group "The Severus Snape & Hermione Granger Shipping Fan Group".
> 
> Prompt 1. The Castaway  
> He opened his eyes and then immediately slammed them shut against the dazzling brightness of the sun as he rolled onto his side retching and spitting up seawater and sand upon an unfamiliar shore.
> 
> This story incorporates two of my favorite headcanons- well semi-canon and headcanon:  
> 1) I like the idea that wizards and witches only wear wizarding robes and underwear beneath, so in my stories they always do unless they change to Muggle clothing.  
> 2) Potions do not demand wand waving but they do need a passive kind of magic to be properly brewed. 
> 
> And I have to say a huge, huge thank you to my beta [SeverusSnep](https://archiveofourown.org/users/SeverusSnep), she had a difficult task making my story readable and understandable, and she has some great stories of her own, worth checking them out ;)

“Blasted idiots!” He rasped, cold air assaulting his throat and prickling his face, “How in Merlin’s blazing pants…” 

Severus never managed to finish. The vast body of water nearing fast, or rather he was falling quite quickly toward it. 

_ Six bloody years… _

It was the last thought before he slammed into the hard surface of the water with his full length. It felt like he had hit a large rock. Hitting the water in this prone position was-  _ painful _ . The pain was still there, but that wasn’t his only problem. Before it reached his mind that he should do something, that he should move- he was sinking swiftly.

He may not have hit the rock, but sure as day, he was sinking like one.

Forcing himself to move, Severus realised that it was too late. The water felt icy cold, and the strong current was pulling him now. He groped for his wand only to remember- he didn’t have it anymore. 

_ They call this ‘acquittal of all charges’. _

Severus kicked his legs and swung his arms, wrestling with the current, his head managed to get above the water, but briefly. It was long enough for him to take a few deep breaths before the current pulled him under the surface again.

If he had time to ponder what was going on, Severus would wonder why the current was so strong? Why did it have such a strong grip on him, even with all his struggling? But he was a tad bit preoccupied with staying alive. 

His muscles screamed from fatigue, but he persevered. Even if the depth, and temperature of the water changed (for which he was grateful), he was still being dragged so forcefully that he was only occasionally able to get a scant supply of air.

When he reached the shallow waters, he tried his best to stand or do- something- anything. That attempt ended up with him being pulled back underand now rolled by the waves, plunging his face into the sandy bottom. Salt burned in his eyes, and nostrils, and throat. 

Finally the water spit him out.

He opened his eyes and then immediately slammed them shut against the dazzling brightness of the sun. He rolled onto his side, retching and spitting up seawater and sand upon an unfamiliar shore. 

_ Where in Merlin’s name am I? _

The stipulation of his acquittal  _ was _ exile, but he was exiled to a wizarding colony on a remote island. Everything he owned was already there, as were all his enemies. Gasping for air, he spit up more salty water that burned painfully in his lungs. 

_ Even if it was a smartly devised death sentence, drowning is overkill.  _

He placed a trembling hand over his eyes, and his muscles protested the effort, but he cracked his eyes open once again, trying to see where he was. 

_ A sandy shore. _

_ The faraway treeline looked suspiciously tropical.  _

_ The woosh of waves. _

_ By the sound of it, there was a cave or rocks nearby. _

He rolled onto his stomach, it was less painful to open his eyes now. The heavy and sloshing feeling reminded him that dragging himself to dry land and away from the sea was prudent. His strength gave out. He wasn’t able to do more than crawl, like some sort of overgrown slug, yet he made it to the point where his boots weren’t in the water anymore. Still, waves reached him from time to time as he crawled. 

Reason told him he was doing  _ the _ most idiotic thing ever- just lying there while hot sand burned him from below and sun from above. He coughed again, spitting up some more salty water. He was too tired to move.

_ This isn’t the wizarding colony. How did they manage to muck up a portkey? _

The island to which they had banished him was notorious for its never-ending rain, stormy sky, harsh living conditions, and constant Auror patrols that never allowed even a seagull to fly by without checking on it. But most of all, it was nowhere near anything remotely tropical. 

Severus tried to summon his magic, he could perform wandless magic in a time of need, but he couldn’t feel it. He couldn’t feel his magic at all!

Feeling a surge of panic, Severus struggled onto his hands and knees, just in time to hear a muffled scream, a heavy thud, aloud “ _ Oumpf _ ”, and a string of swears that could put shame to any sailor he’d ever met. He rolled to sit, still shaking, squinting in the direction of the sound. 

A blurry shape of a body, female by the looks and the sound of the voice, struggled in the sand. 

_ At least this wasn’t directed to me alone, someone really must have managed to muck up royally.  _

As his eyes adjusted to the brightness, the shape became an image, a very familiar image at that.

He flopped back, covering his eyes with the palm of his hand, and groaned.

“Dementor’s Kiss would be merciful compared to this.” 

The shadow fell over him, and he moved his arm to glare-no- squint at the intruder.

“Why are you wet, Professor?” Hermione Granger asked, looming above him like a vulture.

“ _ Why _ are you here, Miss Granger?” He croaked.

“Uh…” She mumbled and sat down next to him.

Severus forced his body to move, shifting himself and focusing on removing his boots still full of water, and his soaking socks. A gasp forced him to glance at his companion, she was staring at his bare feet. 

“I do possess them, you know. Or did you presume that I was gliding through the air all these years?” 

“Yes, I mean no, I didn’t. Well, to be honest- I never gave it much thought.” Granger mumbled. 

“You didn’t answer my question, Miss Granger. Why. Are. You. Here?” Severus growled, not so much because he wanted to, but because his throat was coated with salt. 

“It’s Hermione, Sir, now that it seems we are going to be stuck here for a while. And I couldn't just let you die on that bloody rock- not after I plead your case for six years,” she grumbled.

“That explains  _ me,  _ not  _ you _ .”

“Ummm, yes. Well, you see I was sort of re-assigned as your observer, Sir. That’s how I managed to reach to our portkeys and tweak them a little,” she smiled shyly at him. 

“So, they punished you too.” He nodded, struggling to get up. 

Everything inside him screamed, rage filled him after every word that the bane of his life had uttered, but at the same time as fast as it appeared, the rage dissipated. He was tired, so bloody tired of everything. He was alive; furthermore, alive and in a place where he won’t have to fight for his life anymore. 

“Well, no. Just, no one else wanted to… And I…” Gra- _ fine _ - _ Hermione _ frowned, looking at the sand. 

“They  _ punished _ you, Miss- Hermione. You stuck your neck out for me, and they punished you for it.” Severus finally managed to get up, pulling the hem of his robe and wringing it to drain the water. “I told you six years ago to leave me be.”

“But, Sir...” she protested, standing up. 

“ _ But _ nothing. You, M-Hermione are a lawyer, apart from the war, you do not have any survival skills. Do you honestly believe that you’d survive a day on the island? Among the very same people you placed  _ on that same island _ in your misguided imercy _? _ ” He hissed, trying to assess the time of day. 

“But, they are alive, and they can still use their magic!” Granger now stood with both hands on her hips.

“And I’m sure that Lucius Malfoy would _show_ _you his_ _appreciation_ until you’d be begging for death.” Severus sneered at her.

_ Tropical island, what do I know about tropical islands? Warm during the day, cold by night, populated mostly, wildlife,... What else?! Bugger! _

“Yes, well, it’s a moot point now. I never intended for you to end up here. So I tampered with our portkeys. Although I didn’t manage to do it properly and stay unnoticed.” Hermione mumbled, tilting her head. “Ummm, Sir, what are you doing?”

“Are you addled? Removing my wet robes. It will dry much faster if it’s not on my person. I have no desire to still be in wet robes as the evening gets colder.” He sighed. 

Granger- _ fine _ -Hermione blushed to the root of her hair and swiftly turned around. Severus swallowed the chuckle, removing the wet wool and wrung out as much water as his still painful muscles allowed. 

“Did you not find our things?” She whispered. 

“What things? I was washed on the shore mere minutes before you dropped out of the thin air. I nearly drowned and I am too exhausted to use my magic…” Severus wondered why he was telling her all this. 

_ The sun, it must be the sunstroke speaking. _

There was no other explanation. 

Not a logical one.

Not one he could accept. 

“Drowned?!” She turned to him, her voice squeaking, and turned back around to face away from him. “Oh, I was afraid of that, Sir. That’s why I keyed this place to our magical signatures. If we ended up off course, we’d have been pulled to this place.” 

“You did what?!!!” Severus demanded, now twisting his poor robe like he would twist her neck. “I could have swam to the shore if it weren’t for your-  _ contingency _ plan.” 

She jerked as though she was going to face him, but stayed as he was, her shoulders dropping. 

“I didn’t know if you knew how to swim. And in case you ended up in the water I wanted to be sure…” 

“To what? To drown?” He hissed. “I  _ know _ how to swim. I  _ don’t know _ how to breathe under the water without magical aid.” 

“I had to do all I could  _ while _ I still could, you know. There is a reason why I chose this island. It is remote, sure, but it isn’t even a blip on any magical map. This island is invisible to magical folks because something about it annuls all magic.” He could hear smugness in her voice. 

“And you expect us to survive here? Like what-  _ Robinson Crusoe and Friday _ ? And how?” Severus growled. 

“I did send our things here as well. I packed them and sent them the Muggle way…” She finally moved, looking at the tree line. You could place your robe on that trunk over there to dry. The island is quite small and has zero population. It’s quite off the beaten path.” 

She headed to the trees, sliding and stumbling over the sand. He followed, still unsure if he let go of his robes that he wouldn’t replace them with her neck. 

Much to his surprise, he didn’t. 

Just behind the first few rows of trees, they found two plastic crates and one large metal shipping container. He had to admit, the girl had thought of everything. She packed their things the Muggle way, so most of his brewing equipment survived, not that he could brew effectively without his magic- no wand waving didn’t necessarily mean no magic at all. 

Hermione emerged from behind the bushes, she had changed her robes into muggle shorts and a t-shirt. 

Severus glanced at his equipment, reasoning that he could brew spirits, and he’d need that. Rummaging through a plastic trunk with his name on it, he chose a pair of worn out jeans and a t-shirt with Sid Vicious, the t-shirt stretched over his shoulders, pulling a bit uncomfortably. He did lose a lot of weight during the war, and shifting between Azkaban and the cell in the Ministry didn’t improve his malnourishment, but he definitely outgrew his teenage lankiness. 

He smirked as he noticed Hermione glancing at him and sighing in relief. 

In the large metal shipping container, she managed to cram both his and her library, kitchen utensils, enough matches to last them at least 2 years, wizarding and muggle clothing for all seasons, camping gear, blankets, fishing equipment, and even some hunting equipment. It appeared that she was prepared for all situations.

“Hermione, did you plan for us to live on this island until we perish?” Now he was amused.

“Ummmm, no. I brought…” she looked into the metal container. “Oh, no! No, no, no.” She whined, rushing by him to the far end where some of things had appeared to have loosened from their holding place. Severus approached. “My purse, I forgot about my purse.”

She was holding a clasp of what once was a woman's purse, bottles of healing potions, women's clothing, more books, and a magical tent now half crumbled onto itself lay around. 

“Ah.” Severus nodded with understanding.

“Well, not like we can use any of this anyway.” She shrugged and turned to the fishing rods and bait. “Do you know how to fish, Sir?” Her brilliant smile was brighter than the sun above them.

Hours later, Hermione was sleeping under the blanket next to the fire.They had been too tired to put up a tent, but there was always tomorrow. Glancing at the young woman next to him, listening to the sound of the waves, and looking at the vastness of the starry sky, Severus smiled.

There were far worse things in his life than to be a castaway, washed away upon an unfamiliar shore.


End file.
